Microsoft has had a bumpy ride in the gaming industry, but despite some hiccups, the Seattle-based company has successfully managed to carve out a large chunk of the console market. The software developer surprised everybody when it announced its first Xbox in 2001. Its successor,the Xbox 360, boasted a more refined streamlined design and was a very popular and successful machine during its 11-year run before being officially discontinued in 2016.

Whether you already have an Xbox or are planning to buy one (or if you’re just doing some gift shopping for that gamer in your life), we’ve selected five must-have titles with something for everyone, featuring some familiar faces along with exciting all-new IPs.

The best first-person shooter game

Halo

Why you'll love it: Featuring five full games in one package, “Halo: The Master Chief Collection” offers a ton of content and lets you re-live the adventures of Master Chief in all of his gun-toting, grenade-slinging glory.

When someone says, “Xbox,” seasoned gamers immediately think, “Halo!” Bungie’s first-person shooter classic is what put the Xbox on the map, proving that Microsoft’s console could hang with industry veterans Nintendo and Sony. “Halo: Combat Evolved” sold millions of copies worldwide, rightfully garnered universal critical acclaim, and brought hordes of gamers over to the Xbox. Chances are good that if you got one of these consoles in 2001 or 2002, it was to play some Halo.

Halo’s writing, characters, and art direction were fantastic, especially when compared to other first-person shooters at the time. But where Halo really shines is the excellent multiplayer. “Halo: Combat Evolved” was, in short, an arena shooter engineered from the ground-up for console play.

Innovations like utility weapons, a dedicated grenade button, and limiting the player to carrying two guns at a time (all design features built around a controller) made Halo truly unique. Casual and competitive gamers alike flocked to the franchise by the millions.

“Halo 2” was also among the first big games to popularize the new Xbox Live service, revolutionizing the console multiplayer experience. “Halo 3” kept the good times rolling on the Xbox 360, and after two follow-up titles – “Halo 3: ODST” and “Halo Reach” – Bungie decided to hang up its Spartan helmet and move on.

The series was handed off to the newly-formed 343 Industries which made its debut with “Halo 4.” Now, you can re-live the glory days of Master Chief’s one-man war against the Covenant with “The Master Chief Collection,” bringing five complete Halo games to the Xbox One.

This bundle includes the full single-player campaigns from “Halo: Combat Evolved,” “Halo 2,” “Halo 3,” and “Halo 4,” – all the core titles that featured Master Chief before “Halo 5” – and 343 Industries also recently added “Halo 3: ODST” to the mix as free DLC. The first two games also come with their beautifully remastered “Anniversary” editions which feature complete graphical overhauls for newer consoles (although you can play with the old-school graphics if you prefer, and can switch between the two versions any time you like).

A multiplayer suite is also included for competitive matchmaking, but unfortunately, this feature of the game met with a notoriously rocky launch and still suffers from problems. Due to the fact that Microsoft had multiple studios working on this portion of the game, the netcode is still rather buggy and probably won’t ever be completely fixed.

It’s still a blast when it works properly, however, and the five full single-player campaigns give you more than enough content with plenty of replay value to keep you occupied for quite awhile.

“Halo: The Master Chief Collection” is a treasure trove some of the best games ever made, and is easily the number one must-own title for any Xbox One owner’s library.

Pros: Five full single-player campaigns provide a ton of value and plenty of content to keep you busy for a long time, addictive gameplay that lets you relive the glory days of Halo, and beautifully remastered versions of “Halo: Combat Evolved” and “Halo 2”

The best racing game

Forza

Why you'll love it: Set in a beautiful and expansive open world based on real-life locations, “Forza Horizon 3” delivers a fantastic mix of high-speed racing and casual exploration along with hundreds of cars to play around with.

Of the “big three” franchises exclusive to the Xbox (the other two being Halo and Gears of War), Forza is easily the most overlooked. The series made its debut on the original Xbox in 2005, and since then, it’s attracted more than 14 million players throughout its 12-year run.

Multiple devs have worked on Forza, with the core “Forza Motorsport” games being mostly developed by Turn 10 Studios and the “Forza Horizon” sub-series by Playground Games. Whereas the “Motorsport” titles focus more on traditional racing action, “Horizon” introduced an open-world angle that lets the player cruise and explore outside the race track.

“Fora Horizon 3” is the ninth overall installment and the third of the Horizon series. It’s also one of the most critically-acclaimed racing games ever made and hands-down one of the best – not to mention the most beautiful – experiences to be had on the Xbox One. Every Forza title features its own unique setting based on real-life locales, and “Horizon 3” drops the player into a sprawling open world inspired by the Australian Outback.

“Freedom” is truly the word of the day with “Forza Horizon 3.” The game world is twice as large as that of “Horizon 2,” and while it’s visually stunning and a joy to explore, a racing game is naturally all about the cars.

Here, you have more than 350 available for you to purchase in-game, and you can customize everything about them. Buy aftermarket parts, tune components to suit your driving style, and tweak the appearance right down to the vanity license plates. You can even customize your driver and make a new radio station using your own music library.

The player is also put in charge of the Horizon Festival this time around, rather than being a mere participant as in earlier Horizon games. All of the high-speed gameplay is there, from standard races to time trials and more, but now you can hire and fire drivers, build racing teams with your friends, set up events, and challenge other players as you unlock new festival locations across the Australian bush. You can explore the entire massive game world right off the bat, and it’s totally up to you how you approach it.

“Forza Horizon 3” is a triumph, and in a sea of racing games and seemingly endless sequels, it manages to master the fundamentals while still maintaining its own freedom-focused design ethos that makes it so special. It’s a must-own for fans of the series (or fans of racing in general, for that matter), but it’s also easy to recommend to any Xbox One owner who is in the mood for a long and beautiful thrill ride.

Pros: A great mix of high-speed racing and casual cruising, hundreds of customizable cars that are a joy to drive, a huge open world to explore, cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10, and gorgeous graphics that show off the power of Microsoft’s console

The best action game

Gears of War

Why you'll love it: While it’s not as ground-breaking as its predecessors, “Gears of War 4” still manages to bring all of the crazy, violent, heart-pounding action that we love about the series into the next generation.

If Halo is the straight-A star athlete of the Xbox family, then Gears of War is its crazy, violent, trouble-making, delinquent cousin – and it’s awesome. This third-person shooter series made its explosive debut on the Xbox 360 and became an overnight sensation, quickly cementing its status as the second huge IP exclusive to Microsoft’s consoles.

But Gears of War is hardly stuck in the tall shadow of Master Chief. As great as Halo is, Gears stands apart as an experience all its own. The original trilogy, developed for the Xbox 360, told the story of Marcus Fenix and his battle against the genocidal Locust Horde – a sentient subterranean species bent on the extermination of the entire human race.

The games were wildly popular and set the standard for third-person shooters, with many other works borrowing and expanding upon elements that Gears had all but perfected. And finally, in 2016, “Gears of War 4” brought the series into the next generation on the Xbox One.

Set 25 years after the events of “Gears of War 3,” the fourth core entry puts you in the boots of J.D. Fenix, Marcus’ son. The Locust scourge has been eliminated, but a new threat – a hive-like mutant offshoot of the Horde, known as the “Swarm” – has risen to challenge an exhausted humanity that is still recovering from the devastation of the last war.

The plot, admittedly, isn’t exactly treading new ground here. But let’s face it: You’re probably not playing “Gears of War 4” for a tear-jerking narrative. The meat of this series is the gameplay, and everything we love about the franchise is here (and then some).

The original games were, without a doubt, the best third-person shooters of their generation, and “Gears of War 4” lives up to and even surpasses this pedigree. The combat is fast and fluid, the gameplay is noticeably more refined than its predecessors, and the Swarm requires the use of fresh tactics which is helped along with some new weapons and abilities for you to play with.

The multiplayer modes are also just as addictive, if not even more so than they were before – particularly the revamped “Horde” mode which is a welcome improvement over that of “Gears of War 3.” The visuals are every bit as good as we hoped a next-gen Gears would be as well.

The new dynamic weather effects, implemented to show the ravaged atmosphere of planet Sera, are especially impressive. And while the story might not win a Pulitzer, “Gears of War 4” has it where it counts, proving that this series still offers the most fun you can have with a third-person shooter.

Pros: A fun and refined combat system, classic adrenaline-fueled Gears of War gameplay with interesting new additions, fantastic graphics and world design, and highly addictive multi-player modes

Cons: The story is uninspired compared to previous titles, and the single-player campaign is quite short

The best platforming game

Ori and the blind forest

Why you'll love it: It’s impossible not to fall in love with “Ori and the Blind Forest,” which features near-perfect action-platforming gameplay along with gorgeous hand-drawn graphics, a beautiful soundtrack, and a poignant story.

The Xbox One is a powerful console, but not all of the best experiences to be found on the system require beefy hardware for rendering next-gen 3D graphics. Some games, like “Ori and the Blind Forest,” offer absolutely stunning experiences using 2D hand-drawn art.

This platforming exploration game, belonging to the “Metroidvania” sub-genre (so named due to its combination of elements from the Metroid and Castlevania titles), is among the best examples of its kind and one that can be recommended to everyone.

Even if you’re the type of gamer that demands cutting-edge graphics, don’t be too quick to dismiss the two-dimensional visuals of “Ori,” which is no less stunning than even the latest 3D games. The art direction in this game is nothing short of breath-taking and the vibrant game world sucks you in right from the opening sequence. That same sequence also masterfully sets up the story, giving you a taste of Ori’s endearing and emotionally engaging narrative that instantly leaves you hungry for more.

Metroidvania-style games have become increasingly popular over the past decade, especially among indie developers, and “Ori” hits all the notes perfectly with its excellent platforming, rewarding exploration, and satisfying combat. The beautifully designed world will entice you to spend your time sniffing out all of its secrets, making this game a gift for players who love to slow down to “smell the roses.”

All of this is combined with a beautiful orchestral soundtrack which you will likely find yourself continuing to listen to well after you’ve completed the game itself.

This is not to say that “Ori” itself is a slow game by any means – in fact, there are plenty of moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat, specifically the escape sequences you’ll face at the end of each level. These are hair-raising and a lot of fun, but this is also where the game runs into some trouble with artificial difficulty. These escapes sometimes rely on too much trial-and-error for you to clear, and this can be frustrating at times.

These unexpected difficulty spikes might be a bit steep for younger or more casual gamers, but thankfully they never reach “Dark Souls” levels of frustration and don’t detract much from the overall experience, which is glorious. The custom checkpoint system is also very forgiving, preventing you from having to back-track too much (just remember to take advantage of it by saving often).

Pros: A vibrant and beautiful hand-drawn game world, a wonderful story, great exploration-based platforming, a fantastic orchestral soundtrack, and a forgiving checkpoint system that cuts down on wasted time

Cons: The combat is not as polished as the platforming, and the end-level escape sequences can get frustrating

The best open-world game

Sunset Overdrive

Why you'll love it: The end of the world has never looked as beautiful as it does in “Sunset Overdrive,” an open-world action-adventure game that is addictive to play and look at.

“Sunset Overdrive” is something of an enigma. It’s one of those works that came out of nowhere, earned near-universal critical acclaim along with solid sales, but didn’t quite become the smash-hit that it deserved to be. It’s also extremely unique: In a market with plenty of dingy, dusty, grimdark post-apocalyptic titles, this one bucks the trend with an eye-popping color scheme and wacky style all its own.

Gone is the drab, run-down end-of-the-world Fallout aesthetic: The people of Sunset City are partying like it’s 1999 – well, actually, 2027 – in a colorful metropolis that shows that they’re not letting the whole “mutant-ridden dystopia” thing keep them down.

All of this shines through in Sunset City’s wild color palette as well as the game’s oddball sense of humor. The many wacky characters you’ll encounter throughout the story are genuinely entertaining, often breaking the fourth wall to poke fun at the game itself, but be warned: They like to swear. A lot.

But where “Sunset Overdrive” will really hook you is with its fantastic parkour-style movement system with which you’ll explore this crazy world as you go toe-to-toe with the army of mutants running amok within it.

To get an idea of how you’ll be moving and fighting in Sunset City, imagine “Jet Set Radio” combined with games like “Crackdown” or “Infamous” – then add a dose of LSD. You’ll leap, ride, glide, and grind on walls, rails, vehicles, and buildings while using an array of bizarre weapons to take out hordes of twisted mutants.

Even the tools you use are unique, to say the least (if you’ve ever wanted an explosive teddy bear launcher, then this is your game). The high-speed gameplay is immensely satisfying and highly addictive with a very rewarding progression system.

It’s admittedly quite short for an open-world title, especially when compared to other massive works such as “Fallout 4,” but Sunset City still contains enough content to keep you busy for around 15-30 hours depending on how much of a completionist you are.

“Sunset Overdrive” definitely breaks the mold when it comes to post-apocalyptic games, and while it’s risky from a development standpoint, the payoff is one of the silliest, most unique, and simply fun experiences to be enjoyed on the Xbox One.

Pros: A rewarding and immensely satisfying combat system, a stylish open world full of colorful eye candy, a silly self-aware sense of humor, and excellent movement mechanics for exploring Sunset City

Cons: The vulgarity and humor are not for everyone, it’s relatively short for an open-world game, and there are a few too many fetch quests

Check out our other great gaming gear guides

Video game consoles are next-level awesome these days. Of all the consoles out there, thePlayStation 4 Pro is our top pick for most gamers. A great game library, 4K Ultra HD output, compatibility with popular streaming services, VR capability, and an excellent gamepad make this console the best plug-and-play system out there. The Xbox One S, the Nintendo Switch, the New Nintendo 3DS XL, and the Xbox One X are also all excellent consoles.

A great gaming mouse is a vital weapon in any gamer's arsenal, and theRazer DeathAdder Chromais built for gamers with its super accurate and high-resolution performance. It's also comfortable to use, so you can win level after level.

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